Mission Possible: Chocobo Retrieval
by Prisoner Len
Summary: <html><head></head>Zack accidentally gave Cloud's dear stuffed chocobo to Sephiroth. Guess it's time to get it back! CxS-ish. But mostly just me writing something stupid.</html>
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Shinra Inc. Birds were chirping, SOLDIERs and cadets alike were lounging in the sun (and sweating their asses off, thanks to the rather high temperatures), butterflies were… butterflying.

And cadet Cloud Strife was breaking into General Sephiroth's apartment.

Why, you ask?

Because, Cloud Strife had the misfortune of being Zack Fair's best friend. Because Zack Fair let Cloud sleep on his couch the night before (Cloud hated hot weather, and Zack's apartment was air conditioned). Because Zack Fair _accidentally_ gave General Sephiroth a tattered chocobo stuffed animal while returning a bag full of paperwork. Cloud's tattered chocobo, to be exact. The one Cloud had slept with his entire life. Had Zack gotten more than two steps away before Cloud absolutely _throttled_ him?

No. Absolutely not. He made it about one half of a step, and he was lucky he got that far. Did he deserve it? Completely. After all, unintentionally or not, he had given Cloud's dearest Coco to _his hero_. That beautiful silver-haired _god_ that he had been pining after for the past _six years_.

Blue eyes nervously scanned the long hallway, nibbling on his lip. He wasn't supposed to be there without authorization, but thanks to the overbearing heat, most everyone in the building was either in the pool, or outside. He stared at the door before him and swallowed hard. The small plaque next to the door read "General Sephiroth – 204", signifying that he had indeed found the General's room; Zack had said Sephiroth was on a mission for the afternoon, so it would be safe. He looked around one last time, then dug around in his shorts pockets and withdrew the keycard Zack had given him (yes, given. He had not threatened Zack or anything.). He passed it through the scanner, then nudged open the door slowly, poking his head in.

Cloud gawked, eyes wide, at how completely wrong he had been about his hero. For some reason, he had always pictured the man to be completely neat; he had been in the General's office a few times with Zack, and it had been spotless. Now, seeing the lavishly decorated apartment, Cloud knew he was wrong. Very, very wrong. Magazines, clothes, dirty dishes—and was that pile of empty cans _moving_?—littered the floor, the tables, and the couch. He pushed the door further open and slipped in, wincing in pain as he slammed his sandaled foot into the corner of a book.

He swallowed down the butterflies bouncing around his stomach,—he was in the great Sephiroth's _apartment_!—he picked his way through the living room, nearly knocking a rather pricey vase over in the process. Standing in the middle of the living room, wedged between an empty pizza box, the clothes-covered couch, and the magazine-encased coffee table, Cloud scratched his blonde spikes, pouting cutely.

"if I were the General, where would I throw a bag full of paperwork Zack refused to do?" he muttered to himself, blue eyes slowly scanning the room.

With a sigh, he carefully kneeled down in front of the couch, lowering his head to look under it—and gave a yelp of surprise as a giant furball flew out from under it and started growling at him. Cloud slammed back into the coffee table, knocking his head rather hard on the wooden surface, and shrieked as whatever likely-deadly creature Sephiroth kept under his pile of dirty everything proceeded to… lick his face? He frowned and pried his eyes open, staring straight into the yellow-green eyes of a rather large black cat. For a moment, they merely stared at each other—the cat occasionally butting its head against Cloud's arm—and then the cadet burst out laughing at himself. He had been afraid of a _cat_—wait, since when did Sephiroth even have a pet? Still laughing at himself, he ran his hand through the soft fur of his four-legged friend's shoulders, and returned to his search.

The cat followed him through the living room, through the kitchen, and finally the bathroom until Cloud stood in the hallway, nervously eyeing the bedroom door an hour later. _Sephiroth's_ bedroom. With a quick glance at the door to ensure it was indeed still closed, he slowly made his way down the hall, the cat (that he had dubbed Kitty) slipping between his legs the whole way. The door was half-open, displaying a clean floor—an amazing contrast to the rest of the apartment. Slipping through the half-opened door, he groaned miserably. While he was stuck with an uncomfortably small bed in the barracks, Zack and Sephiroth both had amazingly comfortable-looking beds.

And sitting right there on the bed was a bag full of paperwork.

Cloud gave an excited squeal (scaring the hell out of Kitty) and charged across the room, digging through the bag and eventually withdrew Coco. He hugged the poor, tattered stuffed animal to his chest happily, and turned on his heel to finally get out of there—

And froze when he heard the apartment door slam closed.

'_Shit. Shit. Shit._' Cloud repeated mentally, whirling around and casting panicked glances around the room. Spotting the folding door on the other side of the bed, he dove across the surface—and dammit, it _was_ comfortable!—and quickly yanked it open, shoving himself inside. He pulled it shut behind him and sank to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest and watching through the crack in fear. As he listened to the slow, heavy steps grow closer and closer, he realized his fatal mistake.

He had dropped Coco while climbing over the bed. He whimpered as the bedroom door swung the rest of the way open to reveal an exhausted looking Sephiroth, and Coco flopped over pathetically in the middle of the bed. He knew right then are there, that either he would be found, and the General would kill him for breaking into his apartment—or he would throw Coco away, and Cloud would lead a life of depression and heartfelt sadness over the loss of his stuffed bird.

He was really hoping for the first option.

Sephiroth stood in the doorway of his bedroom for a long time, head cocked slightly to the side, a completely bewildered expression on his face. Casting a wary glance around the room, he made his way to the bed, shoving the paperwork to the floor and sitting on the edge. He gave the tattered bird a scrutinizing gaze. Cloud frowned; Coco was not in that bad of a condition! The cat jumped lightly up onto the bed, and pawed at the bird curiously, claws out. Sephiroth swatted at the cat's foot with a frown, but it was too late.

Cloud shoved the door open, stormed across the room, and snatched Coco off of the bed, clutching him tight to his chest and glaring at the demon-cat that had tried to play with him. Sephiroth blinked in surprise, hand still hovering near the feline.

"Excuse me," Sephiroth calmly started, patting the cat on the head and cocking a silver eyebrow at the cadet. "May I help you?"

Cloud broke his staring contest with the cat, and whirled his head around to the General, eyes wide. He hastened into a salute, dropping Coco and attempting to pick him back up. He swore quietly, drawing his lower lip back into his mouth and gnawing on it; he was going to kill Zack when he got back to his apartment. _If_ he got back.

A second silver eyebrow joined the first, and Sephiroth leaned over, plucking the bird up off of the ground, and standing up slowly. "At ease." He murmured, turning the bird over and examining it.

"S-Sir, uh…," Cloud stammered, grimacing when Sephiroth pulled gently on a loose thread. "Don't! He'll fall apart!"

Pale fingers withdrew from the thread, but remained holding the stuffed animal. Sephiroth tilted his head, studying the small boy before him with curious cat-like green eyes (very much like his black feline friend who was now kneading Cloud's bare feet). He pointed a long, thin finger at the tattered chocobo with a confused frown. "Is this yours?"

Blushing in embarrassment, Cloud nodded. He turned his gaze to the cat kneading his feet, and, in a bout of confidence, asked in a rather sarcastic tone, "Is this _cat _yours?"

He bit his tongue quickly and closed his eyes, expecting to be ran through with Masamune, or thrown out the window. He was not expecting the soft chuckle that escaped pale lips, and he looked up, confused. Sephiroth half-smiled down at him and pointed an accusing finger at the feline. "His name is Loki. I found him on my last mission. He kept following me around…" he replied, rubbing his chin in thought as he stared at the cat. He returned his gaze to Cloud and narrowed his eyes. "How did you get in here?"

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck and pouted, looking away. "U-Um… I slept over Zack's last night, and this morning, he gave you Coco on accident." The blonde explained, gesturing at the tattered bird in the General's hand. "He gave me your keycard and said you wouldn't be back until tonight." With an irritated growl, he added quietly, "Except he lied."

"Well," Sephiroth started, turning the bird over again and examining its wing. "I _was_ due back tonight. I finished early." He traced a hand over the cursive "Cloud" stitched onto the underside. "Cloud? Do you not take care of this?"

The blonde frowned; he did take care of his stuffed bird,—impulsively, even—but since joining Shinra, Coco had gained a lot of wear and tear. Being in the army didn't give Cloud much of a chance to sew up any tears his precious stuffed chocobo gained. One wing was half attached, and the underside of the tattered thing had a loose string slowly unraveling. "I don't have time to, sir."

Sephiroth studied the sad expression on the cadet's face. "You are Zackary's friend?" he questioned; he was pretty sure it was the same cadet the rather excitable 1st brought with him when he harassed him in his office.

"Yes, sir."

"Then I will fix your chocobo and return it to Zackary."

Cloud let out a startled, happy squawk, scaring Loki from the room as he bounced in excitement. He threw himself at the General, then squeaked and pulled away, blushing furiously. "Sorry, sorry!" he cried quickly, stumbling back.

An awkward silence filled the room; Cloud fidgeted, blushing furiously, and Sephiroth blinked down at his chest, where the cadet had buried his face for the briefest of seconds. After a moment,—though it seemed much, much longer to Cloud, who still thought the silver-haired man before him might decide to kill him and mail his dismembered body to Zack—Sephiroth reached forward and pulled the blonde closer, wrapping both arms around him.

"S-s-sir?" Cloud squeaked, voice abnormally high and eyes wide.

Sephiroth hummed in content and nuzzled the blonde spikes. "You are adorable."

"Um… thank you?"

"You are welcome." The General replied, releasing him and holding Coco in front of him. "Would you like me to fix it?"

"Well," Cloud said, crossing his arms and giving the silver-haired man a confident look. "First of all, _his_ name is _Coco_."

"Coco?" Sephiroth repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Blonde spikes bobbed around as Cloud nodded. He reached forward and petted the tattered bird, wide blue eyes staring up to meet the General's sharp green ones. "Would you really? Please?"

Sephiroth looked at the small hand on the stuffed bird, then the blue eyes watching him closely, and finally nodded slowly. With a smirk, he added, "Will you come get him tomorrow afternoon?"

Cloud blinked, cute pout on his face. "Come get him…?"

"I will make macaroni and cheese." Sephiroth explained; he wouldn't openly admit it, but he wanted to know more about this blonde cadet that Zack always spoke of.

Cloud stared. And stared a little more. Was the General _bribing_ him to return? "You don't have to make macaroni and cheese."

"What would you like, then?"

"You." Cloud muttered under his breath. '_Oh, fuck my life. Fuck my life with a rusty spoon._' "…To fix Coco." He added quickly.

Sephiroth cocked his head to the side—this cadet was definitely an odd one. "Alright, Cloud. I have a meeting tomorrow, but I should be home by noon."

Remembering he still had the General's keycard, Cloud fished it out of his pocket and held it out. "Here. I know I wouldn't want Zack to have my keycard."

He remained holding it out to the silver-haired man until it was taken, and slipped back into his pocket. "You keep it. I will see you tomorrow, Cloud."

Nodding quickly, the blonde gently took Coco from his superior's hands, and fled from the room, tripping and falling over a pile of books in the hallway before running out of the apartment. He made a mental note to tell Zack exactly how much of a slob the General was.

Sephiroth stood in the bedroom doorway, watching until the living room door slammed shut. '_I suppose I should ask Angeal to force Zackary to stop ripping my apartment apart_.' He mused, nudging a pile of clothes with his foot. Shrugging his shoulders and smiling, he turned on his heel and collapsed onto his bed, stretching and yawning. A nap sounded really good right about now.

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><p><strong>Aaand Coco makes his return! I named Coco after the stuffed dog I had when I was little, lol. Review? Read other stories? Move onto the next story? Either way, thanks for reading.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Sooo... when I originally uploaded Mission Possible: Chocobo Retrieval, it was fully intended to be a oneshot. I had a couple of people message me and ask me to continue the story, and numerous people add this to their story alerts. So, I figured I'd put up another chapter. Enjoy!**

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><p>It was like deja vu.<p>

Cloud stood before the wooden door of General Sephiroth's apartment, studying the familiar plaque once again, fidgeting and looking around anxiously. It was a nice day; not too hot like the day before, so there were SOLDIERs wandering the halls here and there, throwing the blonde cadet strange looks. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, doublechecking the time—12:31. Sephiroth had said he'd be home by noon, right? He exchanged the phone for the keycard he'd held onto it, and stared at it.

Then stared at the door.

'…_Am I supposed to let myself in?_'

He held an internal debate with himself, shifting the backpack he had slung over one shoulder, his brow furrowed and thought and wide blue eyes focused only on the keycard with Sephiroth's room number printed on it. Finally, he slid the card back into his pocket, and reached a small hand forward, knocking gently.

Silence. Not even footsteps.

He frowned and shifted his weight; what if Sephiroth had forgotten? A SOLDIER walked by, giving Cloud a sideways glare, and he knocked a little bit harder. A loud crash sounded from behind the door, followed by a swear. Blue eyes widened, and Cloud inched away from the door as it swung open. Narrowed cat-like green eyes glared down at him for a second, then widened with a very small smile. Sephiroth snatched a black cat off of the floor as it tried to sneak out of his apartment stepped back, gesturing for Cloud to enter. The cadet resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the burly SOLDIER that had been staring at him, and slid into the large living room—

And promptly stopped short and gawked at the completely clean apartment.

The door shut behind him, and Loki was set back down on the floor. He twined between Cloud's legs, a purr rumbling loudly through his chest. Sephiroth sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and collapsed on the couch; he was shirtless, his hair was wet, and he looked _exhausted_. Cloud simply gawked for a moment, then took a small, cautious step towards the General, clearing his throat.

"U-Um, sir?," he started quietly, frowning down at Loki as he almost tripped. "Are you alright?"

Sephiroth was still, eyes closed and head leaning back against the couch. With a sigh, he cracked open a lazy eye and nodded slowly. "Zackary has been texting me nonstop for the past several hours."

With a groan, Cloud buried his face in his hands in embarrassment; trust Zack to go mother hen! "So, uh… what did he say?"

The silver-haired man chuckled—breaking off abruptly to yawn, which made a rather adorable sound, in Cloud's opinion—and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, hands dangling just close enough to the floor for Loki to rub on. "He told me not to ruin our 'date'. He also said you were looking forward to it." Sephiroth mused, cocking an eyebrow.

Cloud could have died right there. In fact, he very well may have, and he was just a ghost.

Zack had called it a _date_.

_Zack had told Sephiroth that Cloud was looking forward to a __**date**_.

He groaned again, shaking his head quickly, face bright red. "I-I'm sorry, sir—Sometimes Zack says these really stupid things, and I don't know where he gets them—"

"So it's not a date?"

Cloud jerked his head up and regarded the man with a confused gaze; a small frown was tugging at Sephiroth's face, and his brow was furrowed slightly in thought. "S-Sir?"

"Sephiroth.," came the quiet reply. "And this is not a date?"

"Uh…" the blonde chewed on his bottom lip. He did want it to be a date,—really, he did—but what if the General didn't, and Zack had put him up to some prank and—no. Sephiroth wouldn't pull a prank. And frankly, Cloud didn't think his best friend was quite that smart. He took a deep breath and, blushing, looked down at Loki. "If you want it to be, I guess."

Sephiroth smiled and climbed to his feet, nudging the black feline with his foot as he did so. "Then I will get dressed. Be right back." After a few quick paces, he paused, turning around suddenly. "Do you still want macaroni and cheese?"

Cloud stared at the General—then burst into a fit of giggles. At the confused look on Sephiroth's face, he held up one hand, clutching his stomach with the other and shaking his head. "N-No, I'm not… haha… laughing at you!" he gasped. "I-I just d-didn't expect you… to ask that!"

"…Is that a no?"

Cloud coughed, cleared his throat, and straightened up, biting his tongue when another laugh threatened to roll across his lips. He slowly shook his head. "I'm not really hungry, sir."

The General rolled his shoulders in a shrug and continued on his way down the hallway; Cloud heard the bedroom door open, then close, and then he was standing alone in the middle of Sephiroth's very clean, very quiet living room. He frowned; the apartment had definitely been a mess the day before. Had the silver-haired man hired someone to clean up or something? Stepping over Loki,—who was very determined to get under his feet—he sank down onto the couch, sliding his backpack off of his shoulder and peeling it open. Nestled under all of the clothes, movies, and his toothbrush, was Coco—still as tattered as ever, and hopefully about to get stitched up. He was planning on sleeping over Zack's again, so he'd stopped back at his dorm to pack some more clothes and a couple of movies—because frankly, the overgrown human puppy's movie choices _sucked_.

Hell, the night before, they'd watched _Barney's Magical Musical Adventure_.

Yes, really.

And Zack _sang along_.

This time, he was absolutely determined to leave that apartment with at least half of his manliness intact. Well, as much manliness as a scrawny blonde cadet with a stuffed chocobo could have.

…Who was also slightly afraid of the dark, and had a feeling that an axe murderer resided in Zack's hall closet.

But he was _not_ a fan of Barney. That purple dinosaur would be better off going extinct with the rest of them. The entire movie, Cloud had been hoping the train of extinction would just back up, right over the damn thing, and the movie would end abruptly. But no, he had no such luck. Of course not.

Sephiroth slipped back into the living room, and Cloud swiveled his head around; a white button-up covered his chest now, though it was only half-buttoned and sloppily so. He was still barefoot, and his hair was still damp, but he didn't seem to care as he sank back onto the couch next to Cloud. Loki jumped into his lap, and he promptly pushed the cat back on the floor, glancing at the blonde out of the corner of his eye. "Would you like me to sew another eye on him?" he asked, pointing at the tattered bird.

Cloud blinked and looked down at Coco, pouting at his missing left button eye, his half-attached wing, and just all around ratty-ness. He offered a timid smile to Sephiroth, holding the stuffed animal out to him. "Please?"

The General returned the smile with a tired smirk, gently taking the bird and rummaging through the end table next to the couch; he pulled out a spool of thread, then a needle, and settled back into the leather cushions, resting his right ankle on his left knee. He expertly threaded the needle—not even needing to try twice, Cloud jealously noted—and quickly tied a knot at the end of the thread.

"So," Sephiroth murmured, starting to stitch poor Coco's wing back to his body. "How did you meet Zack?"

"Uh…," Cloud started dumbly, thinking. "Way back when I first joined, he gave a lecture in one of my classes. And, well… I fell asleep."

A silver eyebrow rose slightly, and Sephiroth paused in his sewing to stare. "You… fell asleep?"

The blonde gave a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was about different effects poison has on the body—but he was so _boring _about it! He was completely monotone."

"That doesn't sound like Zack."

"He said he did it because Angeal yelled at him for scaring the shi—" Cloud paused, and reworded his almost-curse. "—crap out of new recruits."

If Sephiroth noticed the partial slip, he didn't say anything; his bright green eyes were downcast, focusing on the stuffed bird's wing. He gave a small chuckle. "That sounds like Angeal, though."

Cloud hummed in agreement, idly scratching Loki behind the ears while looking around the living room. "Sir—Sephiroth, wasn't your apartment… well, a complete mess yesterday?" he asked lamely.

"Zackary has a habit of leaving things in here, and then coming back while I'm not here to find them." the General sighed, holding up Coco and examining the reattached wing. Cloud rolled his eyes and quite literally facepalmed; his best friend really was an idiot. "Is this alright, Cloud?"

Blue eyes studied Coco intently, moving his wing around. He beamed, bobbing his head happily. "It's perfect."

This time, Sephiroth actually_ smiled_—not a smirk, not a half-grin. He gave Cloud a full-blown, real smile. Cloud gaped; he was probably the only person alive to see that—alive, because anybody else had probably been killed right after. He pulled off Coco's remaining button eye, and Cloud frowned, hands fidgeting in his lap.

"If I'm replacing one, I'd rather just replace both." Sephiroth explained, not looking up. He leaned towards the end table, dug around a bit, and then frowned; he had no spare buttons. Sighing, he looked down at the white buttons on his shirt, then turned to Cloud. "Is white alright?"

"Uh… I—but that's your shirt."

And the award for stupid, obvious comment of the day went to Cloud Strife. He could practically hear the cheering.

The General shrugged before pulling the top two buttons off and quickly sewing them onto each side of Coco's head. He stared at it from the front, holding his finger across the beak to ensure the eyes were even, then held up the finished product. Cloud squealed—a very manly thing. Definitely.—and grabbed his still-ratty-looking-but-now-slightly-less-so stuffed bird, hugging him to his chest.

"Thank you, Sephiroth." he murmured, running his thumb over the reattached wing. The white buttons—the white buttons from _Sephiroth's shirt_—seemed to twinkle up at him in a smile, much unlike the dull gray buttons that had been there before, and all in all, Coco looked a lot less like he would fall apart in seconds.

"You're welcome, Cloud."

It was quiet in the apartment, save for Loki's rather obnoxious purring, and Cloud placing Coco back in his backpack. He shifted uneasily on the couch, completely unsure of whether or not he was supposed to just leave—would that be rude? He had told Zack he'd be there by three, and the cable box next to Sephiroth's TV was telling him it was already five of.

"Are you sleeping over Zackary's tonight?" Sephiroth questioned, leaning closer to Cloud and peeking into his backpack.

Cloud nodded. "The barrack's don't have air conditioning." He pointed out. Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow, and he quickly added, "I'm from Nibelheim. Heat and I don't go together."

"…Has he watched that horrible musical about a dinosaur yet?"

Surprised blue eyes met amused cat-like green ones, and they both started laughing—Sephiroth more quietly, but it was a laugh nonetheless. Cloud waved his arms wildly at the TV. "He made you watch it, too?"

"I think he makes everyone watch it." Sephiroth pointed out, smiling. "At least you're not Angeal. I'm almost positive he's seen it more than twenty times."

Cloud groaned, snorting out a small laugh. "His movie choices _suck_. I even brought my own this time."

"Oh?"

The cadet reached into his bag, pulling out the first movie his hand touched—_The Ring_. Sephiroth took it, flipping it over and studying the back cover; his cat-like eyes narrowed for a moment, then he smiled and casually waved the DVD around. "Cloud, would you like to spend the night?"

Cloud gaped.

"I'll make popcorn." Sephiroth offered, cocking an eyebrow.

Cloud yanked his phone out of his pocket, flipping it open and going through his contacts; he texted Zack and told him he'd be staying at Sephiroth's—resisting the urge to tell him to enjoy his crap movies. They were best friends, definitely; but Zack's movie choices just… No. Absolutely not.

The General strode across the living room, turned the TV and DVD player on, and slid the disc in, retrieving the controller and sinking back on the couch. The blonde smiled at him, and he smiled back. They met in the middle—Cloud slid over just a bit, and Sephiroth dropped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close.

This most definitely beat _Barney's Magical Musical Adventure._

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><p><strong>Alright, as of right now<strong>**, this story is done. If I happen to come up with something else as a third chapter that I like, I'll upload it. No promises, though. Sorry!**

**Also, I'd like to point out that I don't hate Zack at all. I was just trying to think of something that'd be ridiculous to watch, and... well, Barney's the best thing I could think of. Seriously, I think Zack's awesome.  
><strong>

**Hope you all enjoyed it. c:  
><strong>


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